This is the last issue of Impeachment Watch.
But this story is far from over. We'll continue to cover President Donald Trump, the 2020 campaign and the direction of American democracy with a newsletter called What Matters starting next week. We hope you'll stick around, but if you're ready to move on, there's a link to unsubscribe at the bottom of this email. Either way, thanks for joining us.
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'Total acquittal'
President Donald Trump took a victory lap at the White House on Thursday, a day after the Senate acquitted him of both impeachment charges passed by the House.
He marched out to "Hail to the Chief," then faced a crowd of supporters and delivered a long monologue in which he bragged about his "total acquittal" with regard to his efforts to pressure Ukraine for political help and demonized Democrats as well as Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, who broke with his party to vote for Trump's conviction on one of the two counts. Trump also called the Mueller investigation "bullshit."
He was seen during the day toting around the day's Washington Post and USA Today, posing with their respective, gigantic headlines touting his acquittal both at the White House and earlier at the National Prayer Breakfast, at which he also slammed Romney.  On the Daily DC podcast: David Chalian discussed the campaign rally at the White House before previewing the coming New Hampshire primary. Listen here.
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Unanswered questions
We will continue to learn more about Trump and Ukraine. CNN's Marshall Cohen put together a list of questions that will live on even though the impeachment saga is done. This is worth reading.
At some point, he notes, we'll learn:
- What else does Bolton know?
- When was Pompeo in the loop?
- How involved was Mulvaney?
- When did Zelensky learn of the aid freeze?
- Did Trump ever tell anyone to lie in public?
- What will happen to the criminal investigation?
Reminder: I wrote the other day about some things we have already learned from the whole exercise. Read that here.
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Was impeachment a big mistake?
Doug Heye is a Republican and no fan of Trump, but he writes today that Democrats made a big mistake. History will judge, for sure, but his argument is worth hearing.
First, the impeachment process is a political, not legal, process. In other words, the impeachment trial was not a criminal trial, and if Republican politics favored not bringing forth witnesses and new evidence, then no new witnesses or evidence would be brought. (Of course, had the House slowed the impeachment proceedings down, they could have called upon and subpoenaed additional witnesses.) And, second, Trump would use the outcome of the trial to his advantage -- just as he was able to do the Mueller report by framing it as an exoneration of any and all wrongdoing, despite the report merely saying no collusion could be proved. With a Senate acquittal, get ready for the Trump impeachment exoneration tour -- a tour that will likely only benefit his reelection prospects.
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Romney becomes Washington's new maverick
For now he's the villain of the right. The former Republican presidential candidate isn't welcome anymore to some in the GOP. But CNN's Michael Warren looks at the role Romney is carving out for himself in a Senate that still misses John McCain, another Republican presidential candidate who defied Trump.
It's true that Romney has been publicly critical of Trump since the 2016 election and only a nominal ally of the White House since entering the Senate last year. But in the years before Trump's takeover of the GOP, Romney operated less as a paragon of ideological principle and more as a political chameleon -- willing to be whatever he needs to be in any given moment.
His journey from businessman to Massachusetts moderate to Utahn elder statesman may have kept Romney afloat as a political figure, but it also contributed to his reputation as an inauthentic opportunist -- tacking in whatever direction he felt the party was headed. With his vote to convict Trump of abuse of power, that's no longer the case.
Read more.
Also, here's a how every senator voted, in one chart.
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This is rich
The White House blocked all attempts by Congress to investigate Trump's Ukraine policy. But the administration is cooperating with a new GOP-led Senate probe into Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential 2020 general election rival.Trump has repeatedly made unfounded and false claims to allege that the Bidens acted improperly in Ukraine. Trump’s attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens were at the center of the President’s impeachment trial.
Like we said. This story is not over. We'll be back in a few days w/ What Matters. See you soon.
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